Summers in governor’s race

Harvard attorney files to run on Green Party ticket

By KEVIN P. CRAVER -
kcraver@shawmedia.com

June 26, 2014

Harvard attorney Scott Summers is one of several third-party candidates who have filed to run for Illinois governor.

Summers filed Monday to run for governor on the Green Party ticket with running mate Bobby Pritchett Jr., of downstate Roseville. The Green Party filed 30,000 signatures, or about 5,000 more than the minimum needed as protection against a challenge. By comparison, it took 5,000 signatures to get on the Democratic or Republican primary ballot for governor.

Summers, who ran for Illinois treasurer on the Green ticket in 2010, said his top priority is righting the state’s economically troubled ship and “ ... to address issues that the other parties won’t.” He said his experience as an attorney who has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management makes him more than qualified to do so.

“The big problem facing the state of course is finances, but working on another track is creating jobs and getting out of the economic morass we’re all in,” Summers said Thursday.

Summers, a former McHenry County College trustee, ran in 2008 as the Green Party candidate for the 16th Congressional District, and in 2012 ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for District 6 of the McHenry County Board.

The Green Party received 10 percent of the vote in the 2006 gubernatorial election in a race between Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Judy Baar Topinka, but received only 2.7 percent of the vote in 2010.

Also filing for the governor and lieutenant governor’s race Monday were Libertarian candidates Chad Grimm and Alexander Cummings, and Constitution Party candidates Michael Oberline and Don Stone. Two independent candidates have filed, but their petitions were almost immediately challenged. No challenges were filed against the third-party candidates as of Thursday.

The deadline to file objections with the Illinois State Board of Elections is Monday.

The Green and Libertarian parties and an independent candidate received about 7 percent of the gubernatorial vote in 2010. But they undoubtedly played a significant role in the election, given that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn edged out Republican challenger Bill Brady by less than 32,000 votes. The Constitution Party’s candidate in 2010 was thrown off the ballot for falling short of the needed signatures.